National Institute on Aging

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) seeks to discover those factors that contribute to healthy aging as well as to inform the public about the diseases and disabilities associated with old age. It is highly recommended as a well-written, comprehensive, and user-friendly website for information on a wide range of resources for older adults, their loved ones, caregivers, and researchers.

Scoring

Ease of Use

The site's major content categories--"Health Information," "Research & Funding," and "News & Events"--clearly orient visitors through the site's materials. Each major topic contains appropriate subtopics that can be further broken down into audience-specific resources. Especially helpful is the website's "A-Z Health Topics." Aside from the site's search bar, which doesn't feature any filtering options, this website is an intuitive web resource to browse.

Visual Design

The visual design here is simple but professional and highly usable. Great use of color, readable font, and graphics that keep the reader's eye engaged. Further, the website's pages aren't cluttered in any way, and the website is responsive for enhanced mobile browsing.

Quality

The website contains a wide range of resources and information related to senior healthcare including Alzheimer's and related dementias, diseases and conditions common to older adults, nutrition, wellness, advanced care, and end-of-life issues, ongoing research. Specific references are not given, but the National Institute of Aging (NIA) is responsible for the content, a source of high quality research and evidence.

Credibility

No individual authors or editors are cited, but the NIA has specialists that are experts in areas related to the content. Materials are current within the calendar year, and each page includes a date of publication/revision. Overall, one of the most credible web resources available for readers interested in aging research and education.

Pros

Provides detailed information about common issues that concern older adults and their caretakers

Offers many healthcare resources for families and caregivers

Clear, precise writing that is easy to understand for lay audiences

Information is simple to locate, understand, and share

Abundant multimedia including videos, infographics, research data, handouts, and more

Cons

Some of the content is useful only to clinicians planning research studies

Profile

Sponsors / Affiliations:
The National Institute on Aging is a division of the National Institute of Health (NIH) and part of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HSS).